Treatment of a shoulder following an injury or surgical trauma typically requires immobilization of the shoulder for an extended period of time. A common means of immobilizing the damaged shoulder during rehabilitation thereof is to place the arm connected to the damaged shoulder in a sling and secure the sling to the torso of the patient by a strap. Although the secured sling effectively immobilizes the shoulder, the sling only enables immobilizing the shoulder in essentially one position against the body.
The shoulder is a relatively complex body joint having several ranges of angular motion, i.e., abduction, flexion and rotation. It has been found that effective rehabilitation of the shoulder requires attention to positioning of the shoulder with respect to all of these ranges of angular shoulder motion. Accordingly, it is desirable to immobilize the shoulder in a manner that provides for adjustment of the shoulder position throughout the rehabilitation.
A body cast enclosing the arm, shoulder and torso has been used for selectively positioning the shoulder at abduction, flexion and rotation angles other than those afforded by a sling. Obviously, however, a body cast is extremely uncomfortable to the patient and cannot be adjusted to other positions without entirely recasting the patient. Furthermore, body casts unduly limit certain desired mobility of the patient, otherwise detracting from rehabilitation of the shoulder. In addition, body casts hinder the ability of the patient to maintain good personal hygiene because they obstruct access to the axilla.
Accordingly, efforts have been made to develop an easily removable and adjustable shoulder brace. One such brace is commercially available which provides an adjustable range of the shoulder abduction angle. The brace employs anterior and posterior rigid support bars which extend from the hip of the patient to the axilla where each is joined anteriorly and posteriorly by selectively rotatable and lockable joints to anterior and posterior rigid support bars extending the length of the upper arm.
Although this brace provides obvious advantages over a sling or a cast, it has nevertheless been found to be uncomfortable for the patient to wear for long periods of time, particularly when sitting against a back support or sleeping on the back because of the rigid posterior components. Furthermore, the brace does not provide for adjustment of the shoulder flexion or rotation angles during rehabilitation.
As such, it is an object of the present invention to provide a shoulder brace that is relatively comfortable when mounted on a patient, even for extended periods of time. It is another object of the present invention to provide a shoulder brace that reduces interference with a patient's ability to sit or recline against the back. It is still another object of the present invention to provide a shoulder brace that reduces obstruction of the axilla, thereby permitting the patient to practice good personal hygiene.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a shoulder brace that enables adjustable positioning of the shoulder. It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a shoulder brace that provides independently adjustable positioning of the shoulder across all three ranges of angular motion, i.e., the shoulder abduction, flexion and rotation angles.